8 Essential Tools Every Garden Club Member Should Have

By Danielle Gorski

Garden clubs are a fun way to pursue gardening and socialization. You’ll have the opportunity to meet new people and share tips with fellow gardening enthusiasts. To get started, here are 8 tools you’ll need to ensure you’re ready for any task the garden throws your way:

1. Gardening Gloves

Sturdy gardening gloves protect your hands from splinters, scrapes, and cuts from thorns and sharp branches. Gloves also keep dirt off your hands and protect you from biting or stinging insects. 

For strenuous tasks, heavy-duty leather or suede gloves can prevent blisters. Wear chemical-resistant gloves when handling any chemical, including pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers. 

If you’re a beginning gardener, prioritize your safety and start your gardening tool collection with a pair of sturdy, reliable gardening gloves suited to your most common outdoor tasks.

2. Pruning Shears

Pruners, also called pruning shears, are sharp tools for trimming bushes, hedges, and other plants. Pruning keeps gardens neat and maintains plant health by removing any dead, dying, or diseased branches.

3. Shovel or Trowel

A shovel is used to dig holes for planting larger perennials, while a trowel is used to remove weeds and dig holes for smaller plants like annuals and garden edibles. These tools can also be used to dig out rocks or stones. When you buy your own garden shovel, opt for a long-handled ergonomic model to reduce strain on your body.

4. Watering Can

Irrigation is an essential part of plant care. Watering cans provide a controlled water output ideal for watering new seedlings without disturbing seeds or washing away topsoil. They’re also useful to gently moisten cakes of coco coir. This gentle stream helps protect delicate plants from rough water blasts and prevents soil erosion around potted and in-ground plants.

5. Hori Hori Knife

Although this tool is less commonly known, a hori hori knife is a Japanese gardening tool with one serrated edge and one sharp concave edge. An incredibly versatile tool, a hori hori knife has many purposes in a garden:

• Digging holes

• Transporting seedlings

• Uprooting weeds

• Cutting roots

• Pruning branches

Did you forget your measuring stick? Hori hori blades are marked with a ruler, allowing you to easily measure planting depth or take other measurements as you garden. 

6. Kneeling Pad

Gardening requires regular bending and kneeling for tasks such as pulling weeds, planting new seedlings, or digging in the soil. Kneeling on the ground can take a toll on your knees, so a kneeling pad provides a soft place to rest and helps prevent knee pain. It also prevents you from needing to kneel in the dirt.

7. Garden Hoe

A hoe manages weeds by cutting down top growth. Vegetable gardens usually benefit from a hoe with a wide head. A garden hoe is used for churning and tilling soil or digging rows to plant seeds.

8. Handheld Rake

A handheld rake removes leaves or debris from garden beds. If you don’t want a handheld rake, you can use a long-handled rake with an ergonomic handle. Other types of rakes can also dethatch your lawn, spread mulch across a garden bed, or level soil.

Ready, Set, Garden!

Gardening is a fun, relaxing hobby that lets you socialize and build community with fellow gardeners. Once you stock up on these 8 essential gardening tools, you’ll be prepped for any gardening task in the coming year.

Danielle Gorski researches and writes informative articles on lawn care and outdoor living. Her favorite part about her yard is decorating it for the holiday season.